ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen who had one
charming daughter. She was so graceful and pretty and
clever that she was called Graciosa, and the Queen was so fond of
her that she could think of nothing else.

Everyday she gave the Princess a lovely new frock of gold brocade,
or satin, or velvet, and when she was hungry she had bowls full of
sugar-plums, and at least twenty pots of jam. Everybody said she
was the happiest Princess in the world. Now there lived at this
same court a very rich old duchess whose name was Grumbly.
She was more frightful than tongue can tell; her hair was red as
fire, and she had but one eye, and that not a pretty one! Her face
was as broad as a full moon, and her mouth was so large that
everybody who met her would have been afraid they were going to be
eaten up, only she had no teeth. As she was as cross as she was
ugly, she could not bear to hear everyone saying how pretty and
how charming Graciosa was; so she presently went away from the
court to her own castle, which was not far off. But if anybody who
went to see her happened to mention the charming Princess, she
would cry angrily:

`It's not true that she is lovely. I have more beauty in my little
finger than she has in her whole body.'

Soon after this, to the great grief of the Princess, the Queen was
taken ill and died, and the King became so melancholy that for a
whole year he shut himself up in his palace. At last his physicians,
fearing that he would fall ill, ordered that he should go out and
amuse himself; so a hunting party was arranged, but as it was very
hot weather the King soon got tired, and said he would dismount
and rest at a castle which they were passing.

This happened to be the Duchess Grumbly's castle, and when
she heard that the King was coming she went out to meet him, and
said that the cellar was the coolest place in the whole castle if he
would condescend to come down into it. So down they went
together, and the King seeing about two hundred great casks ranged
side by side, asked if it was only for herself that she had this

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